By Donstance Koroma
International and local Non-governmental Organizations operating in Sierra Leone are currently having a field day due to the absence of effective supervision around their activities.
Revelations, from the ongoing committee sitting in Parliament, have discovered that most international and local Non-governmental Organizations operating in the country are without proper documentation.
The committee has also discovered that many nationals working for international and local Non- Governmental are not complying with the issue of NASSIT contributions for their local staff. It was also discovered these organizations have very poorand several monthly backlogs across the spectrum.
This state of affairs, in the NGO community, was seriously frowned at by Members of Parliament.They are particularly concerned about the huge disparity between local and expatriate staff in these organizations.
Another issue of concern, spotted by the lawmakers, was lack of residential and work permits for most of the international staff working for these organizations, which, he noted, is a blatant violation of our laws.
As the hearing continues, most of the organizations that have faced the lawmakers are unable to present the necessary documents as requested by the Committee.
The organizations have blamed their failure to produce documents on the delays by the respective agencies in the country responsible for issuing out these documents, noting that these actions are intentional on their part.
It was also discovered that most expatriates have taken up jobs in the country which Sierra Leoneans have the skills to do.